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Saturday, 28 July 2012

Rare are those who become legends and rarer still are
those who do so during their lifetimes. Singer, actor, playwright and music
composer par excellence – Pankaj Kumar Mullick was one such who through sheer dint
of genius and talent not only became a Living Legend but also a revered cultural
icon of the nation during his lifetime.

His is a story of humble beginnings, monumental struggles
and glorious achievements – achievements that have not only been written in
golden words on the pages of the cultural history of India but have been
inscribed on the very visage of time, making them truly eternal and everlasting.

He was the one who fought against massive odds and
liberated Rabindrasangeet (songs composed by Rabindranath Tagore) from the
clutches of the elitists to make them popular among the masses. In the process
he earned the sobriquet of The First Man of Rabindrasangeet, an epithet he
justified fully through the missionary zeal with which he sang and spread the
magic of Tagore’s compositions across the country and the world.

A couple of quotations by two world-renowned people bring
into perspective Pankaj Kumar Mullick’s communion with Rabindrasangeet:

All those lyrics of mine that I will not get the
opportunity to set tune to during my lifetime, I leave to you to embellish them
with your music.

Satyajit Ray

Satyajit Ray
in a eulogy on 22.02.1978: Pankaj Mullick earned legendary fame and popularity
as a singer and teacher of Rabindrasangeet. He devoted his whole life to this
cause using the media of the film, the radio and the gramophone – he succeeded
in endearing himself to music loving Indians all over the country.

His contributions in the field of Indian cinema were
manifold too. He was directly involved in the advent of play-back singing in
Indian films, he pioneered the use of Western musical elements in Indian film
songs and over a period of nearly thirty-seven years he sang and composed music
for a gamut of films in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil. Many of these songs after
having defied the ravages of time continue to enthrall listeners cutting across
age-groups and generations. Several eminent artistes, luminaries in their own
right, including the likes of K. L. Saigal, S. D. Burman, Kanan Devi, Hemant
Kumar, Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle sang his compositions in films which at times
scored heavily at the box office only by virtue of the magic of his musical
creations. Apart from singing and composing music for films, he also featured
as an actor in quite a few movies, often in leading roles. Pankaj Mullick’s
involvement with cinema made him a household name not just across the length
and breadth of the country but in every nook and cranny of the world where
Indian films were watched.

The
indelible footprints he left on the bedrock of Indian cinema traced their way
back into his life in the form of the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award which
symbolized the culmination of his career in films in a manner that has few
parallels.

Pankaj Mullick on AIR

Another
medium that bore witness to the magnitude of his talents was the radio. In fact
it was through radio that Pankaj Kumar Mullick first came under the public
spotlight. From 1927 to 1975, over a span of about forty-eight years, Pankaj Kumar
Mullick served Indian Radio in general and Kolkata Radio in particular with
incomparable dedication and commitment. During his lengthy tenure at AIR (All
India Radio) he got involved with two landmark programmes that have had an
everlasting impact on the musical, social and cultural framework of India.

Pankaj Mullick on Sangeet Shikshar Ashar

The first of
these was Sangeet Shikshar Ashar, a
weekly music-class on radio, broadcast every Sunday morning. Pankaj Mullick
conducted these classes in an inimitable style that went on to capture the imagination
of generations of music lovers. Starting in 1929 Pankaj Mullick conducted the
programme for decades till 1975 – a feat probably without any comparison in the
annals of radio broadcasting. The programme was so revolutionary that it broke
the shackles encumbering female singers who till then were looked down upon
when they expressed their desire to learn singing. This apart, the programme
made many more significant contributions to the world of culture that are too
numerous to list here.

Pankaj Mullick withthe Mahishasuramardini team

The other one was of course Mahishasuramardini – the legendary radio programme broadcast
annually every Mahalaya morning preceding the autumnal Durga Pujas. This
programme, an oratorio comprising narrations and songs describing the victory
of Devi Durga over the demon king Mahishasura, was started in 1931. Since then
the programme was broadcast live every year till about 1965 after which a
recorded compilation of the songs and narrations, broadcast live earlier, was
played out annually. Interestingly enough, this phenomenon continues till date.
Over time, the programme itself has developed a persona of its own and has
transcended impermanence to evolve into a becoming a tradition that has become
intertwined with the very culture of Durga Puja among Bengalis the world over.
Through it, the creators of the programme – Banikumar, Pankaj Kumar Mullick and
Birendra Krishna Bhadra have achieved virtual immortality along with the other renowned
artistes who have performed in it. It is already into its 81st year
and shows no signs whatsoever of abating or stopping.

Besides these awe-inspiring achievements Pankaj
Mullick had an array of other noteworthy accomplishments to his credit as well.

A small selection from these is listed below in gist:

·He
was appointed as the Honorary Advisor to the Folk Entertainment Section of the
Government of West Bengal by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal Dr. B. C.
Roy.

·He
was invited to sing the inaugural song during the launch of television in the
country.

·At
the behest of Sri Sarat Bose, Netaji’s elder brother, he sang ‘Kadam Kadam
Barhaye Ja’, set to his version of the tune, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru being present during the recording. Other members of Netaji’s family too
lent their voices to this record.

·Following
India’s independence, on Prime Minister Nehru’s request, he sang and recorded
the Indian National Anthem – ‘Jana Gana Mana’ in a style that was deemed to set
the parameters to be followed during the singing of the anthem by all Indians.
The recording was also played nation-wide at almost every public place to
familiarise every Indian citizen with the anthem of their newly formed
independent country.

Legends like Pankaj Kumar Mullick are never forgotten.
Memories of him may tend to fade but his tales invariably get told over
generations and from each telling arises the spirit of the artiste, like a phoenix
rising from the ashes, to once again ascend the seat of perpetuity and stake
his claim to immortality once and for all.

A few honours that were posthumously bestowed on him
are listed below:

·The
Government of West Bengal renamed Ritchie Road as Pankaj Mullick Sarani in his
honour.

·The
Department of Information and Culture of the Government of West Bengal
celebrated his birth centenary in 2005 with great pomp and splendour.

·The
Government of India, paid tribute to his memory by issuing a commemorative
postage stamp in 2006.

·The
Kolkata Municipal Corporation declared his residence at Sebak Baidya Street a
Heritage Site in 2007.

·The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supported the erection of a statue in his honour at Maddox Square Park on Pankaj Mullick Sarani in 2010.